flowchart LR
A(Determine data needs) --> one
subgraph one[Create and maintain inventory]
direction TB
D --> B
B(Identify available data) --> C(Locate the information)
C --> D(Gather and organize data)
end
one --> E[(Data inventory)]
DATA INVENTORY, WATERSHED CHARACTERIZATION & SUFFICIENT DATA
March 5, 2024
Determine data needs
While you are scoping and planning a project:
- Identify stakeholder concerns
- Identify watershed goals
- Define conceptual models
Identify available data
- Use existing data if/when available!
- Assess the quality/reliability of that data.
- Talk to organizations that have conducted projects in the area.
Locating information
Water quality
- Routine water quality
- Stormwater/runoff monitoring
- Storm/flow biased water quality
- Benthic and other stream surveys
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Photo credit Michael Miller
Locating information
Water quality
- TCEQ SWQM, Integrated Reports
- CRP Partners
- National Water Quality Portal (successor to STORET): https://www.waterqualitydata.us/
- Hydroshare: https://www.hydroshare.org/
- TPWD Bioassessment Studies
- Texas Stream Team Citizen Science Data
Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications
Photo credit Michael Miller
Locating information
Streamflow
- Daily/instantaneous streamflow
- Inundation/tidal data
Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications
Photo credit Michael Miller
Locating information
Streamflow
- National Water Information Service: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis
- Water Data for Texas: https://waterdatafortexas.org
- Hydroshare: https://www.hydroshare.org/
- NOAA: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/
Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications
Photo credit Michael Miller
Locating information
Climate
- Precipitation
- Temperature/solar radiation
- Wind direction/speed
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Photo credit Laura McKenzie
Locating information
Climate
- NOAA Climate Data Online: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/cdo-web/
- OSU PRISM Climate Group: https://prism.oregonstate.edu/
Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications
Photo credit Laura McKenzie
Locating information
Pollution Sources
- Permitted discharges
- Non-permitted sources
Photo credit Ryan Gerlich (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension)
Locating information
Pollution Sources
- EPA ECHO: https://echo.epa.gov/
- TCEQ Water Quality General Permits: https://www2.tceq.texas.gov/wq_dpa/index.cfm
- TCEQ Central Registry: https://www15.tceq.texas.gov/crpub/
- Non-permitted sources: Often derived from secondary data sources (Census data, 911 addresses, wildlife surveys, etc.)
Photo credit Ryan Gerlich (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension)
Gather and organize data
Basic Principles:
- Create a project specific data folder or database.
- Maintain living project documentation.
- Use data exploration and summary methods to get a “picture” of the data.
Gather and organize data
Best practices:
- Consistent terminology and file naming (ex. Nitrate as nitrogen, NO3-N, or nitrate…).
- Standardized dates (highly suggest YYYY-MM-DD formatting).
- Use non-proprietary files where possible (plain-text, csv, etc.).
- What are your data storage practices?
Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC 2.5 DEED
Image: https://xkcd.com/1459/
Gather and organize data
Spreadsheet best practices:
- No empty cells: specify no value, NA, zero, infinity, etc.
- One value per cell.
- Do not use font color, cell color, or comments, as data.
Data Organization in Spreadsheets: https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2017.1375989
Reconnaissance
Objective: Identify if or where there is a water quality problem.
- AKA routine or ambient water quality
- Provides a snapshot of water quality at a given point in time
- Limited statistical application (summary statistics or probability of exceedance)
- TCEQ assessments manual provides baseline methods for comparison.
Plot studies
Objective: Evaluate differences in conditions or treatments
Experimental trials on multiple plots involving treatment and control replicates. Treatments are small plots where runoff can be routed to a single measurement point per treatment.
Image USDA NRCS (2003)